It took real effort to step back and steady her with just my hands. Letting her go felt wrong in a way that rattled me. The second the heat of her left my arms, every part of me, especially my dragon, screamed to pull her back. I clenched my teeth so hard my jaw popped. There was a moment, right before the gap widened, where it felt like we might never let go.
I forced a smile, trying for casualness. "We get a lot of balance practice around here. Wet rocks, loose gravel, you name it."
She blinked, finding her footing again. She was flushed, but she covered fast. "Thanks. I would've been soaked."
I shrugged, pretending I wasn't soaked myself now. "It's nothing. The water's clean. Best in the valley, according to the old-timers."
She looked at the sampler still clutched in her hand, then back at the creek, then at me. "We'll find out. My project's got a six-month timeline, but it could be longer if the data comes back weird."
The timeline hit like a punch. Caden surged, teeth bared.She's leaving? No. Claim her.Now.
My temples pounded. All the polite words vanished.
She turned, intending to keep sampling, but I couldn't let it drop. Not with the fire burning holes in my control.
I grabbed her wrist, gentle but firm. She froze, staring at me.
All I saw were those brown eyes, the stubborn set of her jaw, the memory of a summer night that never really faded.
My vision flared. I felt it, raw and real, the dragon fire leaking into my irises.
"We need to talk," I told her. I tried to keep it soft, but it came out rough, every syllable edged with power. Alpha to the bone.
She heard it. Her pupils went huge. She pulled her hand back like it burned.
Before she could answer, I fished out a surprisingly dry Sweet Dragon Bakery card from my back pocket and pressed it into her palm. I dropped her hand like it might break and turned away. Caden roared in protest, snapping and clawing to get me to stay, to take the mate, to demand the truth.
My boots squelched in the mud. I'd barely made it five steps before she called after me, voice uncertain.
"Wait, are you okay? You look… I mean, you seem like you're in pain."
I almost laughed, but all that came out was a dry rasp. "Just had some really spicy food," I lied without looking back. "Hits harder than you'd think."
Under my breath, I added, "Yeah, the kind that breathes fire and wants to break loose and drag you into a cave for the next ten years."
Every footstep up the hill was a wrestling match. Caden whined and rattled the bars, clawing for another glimpse, hungry for that wild, impossible connection.
I forced my breathing to slow and managed to make it back to the house without shifting.
That was the first real contact in seventeen years, and I'd almost blown it by shifting in front of her.
I dug my nails into my palms and waited for my damn dragon to cool. Not much chance of that happening any time soon.
We'd done it. Came face-to-face, almost combusted, and then walked away.
But everything inside me knew this was only the start.
Let's see what happens when she comes to thebakery. Odds were good I'd combust all over again or worse.
For now, though, I just tried to hold myself together. Caden prowled along every nerve ending, replaying the heat of her against me, griping about the missed opportunity.
I let him rant. A man could only do so much in one day.
Tash
The boxesin my bedroom had multiplied overnight. One side of the room was covered. Moving boxes, half-unpacked books, stacks of paperwork, and the world's saddest collection of frames that still hadn't made it to the wall. My skin still held a faint buzz I couldn't shake. No matter how many times I told myself to forget the incident at the creek, forget the stupid slip on the rocks, forget the man who had caught me like he'd been waiting seventeen years to do it. My body wasn't listening.
The twins' school photos peeked out from a manila envelope on the dresser, angled like they were judging the disaster zone. I could almost hear my grandmother saying, "Now, Natasha, take pride inyour home," and it made me want to laugh and cry at the same time.
